On 26 August 2014, Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC, Günther Oettinger, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Energy, and Karel De Gucht, Member of the EC in charge of Trade, went to Minsk, Belarus, where they gave a joint press conference and participated in a Forum between the Eurasian Customs Union, EU and Ukraine.
The crisis in eastern Ukraine dominated the agenda, and Petro Poroshenko, President of Ukraine, called on the Forum to accept his peace plan for the country. The meeting focused on two areas: the economic aspects of the discussions between the different nations, especially between Russia, Ukraine and the role of the EU; and on the peace and security issues.PHOTO SHOTLIST